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What A Good Week It Has Been For Women In Sport

What A Good Week It Has Been For Women In Sport
Fairfax: Supplied

While women tend to be underpaid and underrepresented in sporting codes around the nation -- and world -- they've kicked a few goals even Sam Newman can't deny this week.

On Monday the Australian Rugby Union and Sydney Airport signed a partnership deal for the Qantas Women’s Sevens team, which is the first time in Australia a company has sponsored only the women’s side.

The Women's Sevens team celebrates after winning the final against Canada at the HSBC Sevens World Series.

On Wednesday, the national women’s cricket team gained a massive collective pay rise, with Cricket Australia announcing the payment pool for women in the league would increase from $2.36 million to $4.23 million.

The pay rise makes the Southern Stars now the highest paid women’s side in the nation, earning in excess of $100,000 each per year.

The Women's Trans-Tasman Twenty20 -- Australia versus New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand.

As the national cricket side celebrated, the U.S. soccer side celebrated a seven to nil win against Columbia, drawing a large crowd of more than 20,000 as they continue to fight for higher pay. The team have demanded similar compensation to the men's side, filing a suit before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

And back on home soil on Thursday, Rebecca Maddern made her debut on The AFL Footy Show. Maddern is the first woman to hold a permanent position on the panel. The Sydney Morning reported the episode as the highest-rating non-Grand Final show in six years with 686,000 viewers.

As Geelong Football Club’s first ticket holder and with a great-grandfather who captained the club in 1917, Maddern isn’t out of her depth, even with Sam Newman.

Within the first few minutes of the program, Maddern already managed to get a quick-witted dig at her fellow panellist.

After Newman, who once played for Geelong, passed Maddern his business card and an open-invitation for advice-giving sessions, Maddern delivered her first query to The Footy Show veteran: “Sam I did want to ask you given the opportunity... what was it like playing with my great-grandfather?”

Touché.

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